Kristin Paterakis
Picking your next dive destination can be an arduous task. With so many thriving dive sites to choose from, each has its own unique highlights. Here, five spots that can't be missed.
1. Galapagos
Even creatures of tropical water—diving habit happily layer up in 7 mm wetsuits and hoodies for the incredible diving that awaits in these islands made famous by Charles Darwin. The Galapagos can be dived from a land base or by liveaboard, but you’ll cover far more ground on the latter. The many highlights include schooling hammerheads commonly seen off Darwin and Wolf Islands from June to November, whale sharks and dives with sea lions, and marine iguanas.
Jay Clue
2. Fiji
Corals so beautiful they can make a person cry are a common theme in Fiji’s tropical waters, known for being the soft coral capital of the world—and living up to that hype are places like Taveuni’s Rainbow Reef and the Great Astrolabe Reef in Kadavu, among many other locales. Shark lovers gravitate to Beqa Lagoon for up-close encounters with bull sharks, tiger sharks, lemon sharks and more.
Shutterstock/Damsea
3. Tuamotu Atolls, French Polynesia
Hundreds of reef sharks, frolicking dolphins, mantas and more await divers who move on from Papeete and Moorea to experience French Polynesia’s Tuamotu Atolls. Fakarava’s South Pass, Tetamamu, is known for its wall of sharks, while mantas frequent cleaning stations in the lagoon at Tikehau. Rangiroa is also known for its ripping dives in the atoll’s passages, where you’re all but guaranteed to see sharks and dolphins.
Shutterstock/Francesca Reina
4. Socorro and Revillagigedo
Accessible by liveaboard only, Mexico’s remote UNESCO Heritage Site is a jewel of the country’s Pacific waters and absolutely teeming with pelagics. Oceanic mantas, hammerheads, silky sharks, humpback whales and Galapagos sharks are just a glance at what you might encounter underwater here.
Shutterstock/Travel2Sea.com
5. Komodo, Indonesia
Raja Ampat might be Indonesia’s biggest calling card for divers, but Komodo brings its own thrills to the table at dive sites like Shotgun, ripping with current and an all-out blast of marine life. It’s easy to dive most of Komodo’s sites during daytrips from Labuan Bajo, too, an atmospheric harbor town full of cafes and budget accommodations.
